Moving to the Central Valley...How's the Scene?

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by akgroom, Jan 23, 2013.

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  1. akgroom

    akgroom Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2010 Georgia

    Hey everyone, not a frequent BA poster, but I am moving to the central valley (Modesto area, to be specific) mid-February for a new job and I was wondering about the beer scene. I have already heard a lot about Dust Bowl Brewing, where I will be headed as soon as I get there, but I wanted to get a feel for availability of things and if there are meetups or anything in the area.

    I am coming from Atlanta, GA...a long way for me!

    Thanks!
     
  2. danscott

    danscott Initiate (0) Jul 15, 2006 California

    Thank you for not starting your post with "Where do I get some Piny?"

    Hell yes, Dust Bowl in your backyard is a great thing, both for beer and for the people you will meet.

    St Stan's is an old school brewery that has gone through several ups and downs, but is making a stronger effort. They are adding taps at their home base Hero's. BevMo has a huge selection of beers you don't get in Atlanta, so that will certainly keep you busy and happy. There are also a few independent bottle shops around town, you'll find them. They have common selections, not much more.

    There are certainly a few spots and some beer lovers in the area, but your best bet for the moment is to make trips to the Bay Area (specifically SF and Oakland) or to Sacramento if you have a hankering for world class selections on draught. You probably will not have time for SF Beer Week with the timing of the move, but (cough cough, shameless but helpful plug) Sacramento Beer Week is Feb22-Mar3. I highly recommend coming up for the Capital Beerfest, as there will be at least 85 breweries (mostly NorCal), so it is a great way to be overwhelmed by the bounty we have here.

    The good news is that craft beer is booming here in CA, and cities with the size/demographics of Modesto will likely see some growth.

    Do not drink wine made in Modesto. Eat at Gervasoni's and frequent farmer's markets. Find an old school Italian joint (there are several). Take road trips east into the historic Gold Country and to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. San Jose sucks (I don't mean beer, I mean in general).

    Welcome to CA when you get here!
     
  3. akgroom

    akgroom Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2010 Georgia

    This is all great stuff, thank you! While I'm definitely excited to finally get some Pliny, I know that I'm a short drive away from their entire selection at the brewery itself, so I figured that's when I'd get some.

    I've already got BevMo trips on the agenda for my first week when I get there. They seem a lot like Total Wine here in Atlanta, which is great for selection, but widely-known to have the good stuff...so the good stuff goes FAST. Also, when I flew out for my interview, I tried a couple of St. Stan's brews during dinner. Their 2007 Barleywine was great!

    Having been to Modesto a couple of times now between the interview and home hunting, I noticed that Sacramento is the affiliate city for all of the TV, radio and other broadcast stuff, so I wanted to get to know Sacramento well...sounds like the Beer Week may be the perfect opportunity for that!
     
  4. badb_rad

    badb_rad Initiate (0) Dec 23, 2012 California

    The BevMo in Modesto is small. Nothing like Total Wine when it comes to selection. There are BevMos in Turlock, Stockton & Tracy also. I havent been to the Turlock or Stockton stores, but the Tracy store is much bigger, somewhat on par with Total Wine. Closest Total Wine stores will be in the Sacramento area.
     
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  5. azureoval

    azureoval Zealot (743) Jan 25, 2010 California

    Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto is all the same market as far as Media is concerned.
    Bevmo is usually priced slightly higher and has slightly less selection than TW but seems to get limited releases sooner than TW. At least around here.
    There is two Total Wines in the Sac area along with Bevmo's and places like Final Gravity and Davis Beer Shoppe that you should check out while here.
    Welcome to the Central Valley.
     
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  6. MLucky

    MLucky Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2010 California

    True that. But what somebody from outside the area might not realize is... they're actually kind of far apart. I think it's about 80 miles from Modesto to Sac, probably took me an hour and a half the last time I drove it. And ti can take a lot longer, given the traffic on 99. It might be a shorter route to a better selection to go to Livermore and Walnut Creek, if you're coming from Modesto. The East Bay isn't all that much farther, and there you'd get Beer Revolution, Ledger's Liquor, etc.

    But yeah, the Sac "scene" is growing by leaps and bounds. Seems like there's a new brewery or craft-focused beer bar opening up every other week these days, and some of them are great. (Some... not so much.) I don't get down to Modesto much, but I imagine it's probably booming, too.
     
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  7. azureoval

    azureoval Zealot (743) Jan 25, 2010 California

    Yeah you are right . I was just talking about if he visits Sac for Beer Week what his options were. The Bay could be a better a option for regular visits.
     
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  8. Johnnyramirez

    Johnnyramirez Initiate (0) Nov 17, 2012 California

    I personally hate the Tracy BevMo. Old IPA's on the shelf are the norm. If you drive to Tracy just go to Pete's Liquor to get fresh IPA's or make the extra 20 minute drive to Livermore BevMo and Perry's Liquor. All that said, if OP is coming from Atlanta I'm sure BevMo will keep things interesting for a while. Plus Dust Bowl is right in his backyard.
     
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  9. No1Smitty

    No1Smitty Initiate (0) Nov 7, 2011 California

    A lot of great advice. I myself live in Modesto. The Bevmo here will keep you busy for awhile. As Johnny mentioned the Limited release stuff can be found at Pete's in Tracy and Perry's in Livermore. I have found the Turlock Bevmo to have a better selection than Modesto. So when visiting Dustbowl stop by there on the way home.

    It would be nice to have some bottle sharing parties in the area. Maybe we could get one of those going soon ?
     
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  10. akgroom

    akgroom Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2010 Georgia

    I'm sure BevMo will keep me busy for at least the first month or so. Thanks for the heads-up about the Tracy BevMo, I'll be sure to pay close attention to bottle dates when possible.
     
  11. akgroom

    akgroom Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2010 Georgia

    This would be awesome, considering I'm new to the area as well. Maybe we could set something up at Dust Bowl even.
     
  12. matedog

    matedog Crusader (421) Jan 25, 2010 California

    Don't forget the Davis Beer Shoppe. But again, that's not so close to Modesto.
     
  13. Johnnyramirez

    Johnnyramirez Initiate (0) Nov 17, 2012 California

    A bottle share would be awesome. I know there's some bottles I've been sitting on that I want to share
     
  14. hophead247

    hophead247 Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2008 California

    TONS of taco trucks.
     
  15. badb_rad

    badb_rad Initiate (0) Dec 23, 2012 California

    I'll come down out of the foothills for a bottle share for sure.
     
  16. Arbitrator

    Arbitrator Pooh-Bah (1,955) Nov 26, 2008 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    My sincere condolences.

    Dust Bowl isn't bad. Check out The Rapist, their Triple IPA. It's pretty interesting.
     
    jtmartino, danscott, akgroom and 2 others like this.
  17. Johnnyramirez

    Johnnyramirez Initiate (0) Nov 17, 2012 California

    Lmaooooooo. I see what you did there
     
  18. westcoastbeerlvr

    westcoastbeerlvr Grand Pooh-Bah (3,751) Oct 19, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    It's funny because knowing you, at first I thought you were talking about City Beer Store.

    And then I thought you said The Trappist.
    This one took me a while.
     
  19. akgroom

    akgroom Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2010 Georgia

    Okay guys, I've been here a month and you weren't kidding...it's like a wasteland. Sure, there are a decent amount of things I haven't tried that are available (Bear Republic, Ballast Point, Speakeasy, etc.) but the Central Valley is a freakin' desert. Most of the stuff I find is old and any of the good stuff is "supposed to come in" and never does. At BevMo, I had multiple associates just look at me and say "Welcome to the valley! It has the worst beer distribution of the entire state." I never realized how spoiled I was living across the street from a Total Wine back in GA.

    So, enough bitching. How do we change this? I can't tell if there are old beers on shelves because there's no demand or because there's no distro. Is there someone we can reach out to to show demand? Who are the big distributors in the area? I mean, there's got to be something! Sure, I can drive *only* 1.5-2 hours to get a massive selection, but this is CA. We shouldn't be having this much trouble getting good beer when we live so damn close to it. Any ideas?
     
  20. badb_rad

    badb_rad Initiate (0) Dec 23, 2012 California

    Number 1 problem I think is the demographics.. Not a lot of craft brew fans.. Delta Sierra & Cencal distro to the needs of the many & that's BMC products.
     
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